A Nightmare So Real
by Rhiannon1
Summary: A break up...or is it more?
1. The Change

Title: A Nightmare So Real part 1

Author: Rhiannon

"But Serena, what do you mean," he asked alarmed.

"I mean that I don't want to be with you anymore, Darien. I just think that it's time for us to both move on," she replied coolly.

"Is it something I've done?" he asked desperately, "Tell me and I can change it. I can make you happy if only you let me Serena."

"Darien think about it, do I really need a reason to break-up with you? You're always busy with school and you never have time for me. And I just don't think it's fair that I have to be with you just because we are supposedly destined to be together. I mean I'm still too young to settle down with anyone and I need to be with people other than you. I need time to be young Darien."

"But Serena...I love you," he whispered, "You can't just do this to me, I need to have something more than the excuse that I'm always busy with school. Serena I need to know exactly why," he said, his voice choked with emotion. 

"Darien like I said I need to be with other people, we can't go on just basing our lives on what happened in the past. You're a big boy now, I'm sure that you can handle a small change in your life."

"Serena, this isn't a small change in my life...this is...I don't know what this is!"

"Look sweetie, you and I both know that this would have ended sooner or later, so let's just call it quits now instead of later."

She was so cold and distant to him, her cruel words. Those eyes he knew so well were cold and unfeeling. She didn't love him anymore, or she was doing a good job of hiding her emotions from him. 

"Serena, please tell me that you don't mean this," he whispered softly.

"Look Darien," she said exasperatedly facing him, "I don't have all day for you to understand this. Let me reiterate this to you, I don't want to be with you anymore. I don't love you. You are like a thorn in my side. You just cause problems for me. I don't think that I should have to put up a façade for you just to make our destiny a reality. I want to change ~my~ destiny."

With that she walked away from him, leaving him speechless. He couldn't believe or even begin to make sense of what just happened to him. The woman that he loved, more that life itself, had just ripped out his heart and stomped all over it. 

Oh Serena, why did you? he thought sadly.

He sat down on a bench and wept. He didn't really care who saw him. His entire life was over, as far as he was concerned. Life without Serena was not living at all.

Oh Serena! What did I do? How can I win you back? he thought desperately. After a few hours of sitting and thinking he went home still trying to make sense of what happened to him, still wondering what could have happened to make Serena so cruel to him.

____________________________________________________________

"Serena, you did WHAT?" exclaimed Luna.

"Oh Luna! Just stop it! I need to have a life and a relationship other than with Darien. Why can't you understand this and leave me alone about it?"

"Serena, this is not just something that you can take back. You do realize that if you change your mind about this Darien may not want you back. You may well have destroyed him."

"Luna don't you listen? I should have ended it with Darien a long ~long~ time ago."

"But Serena, just last week you couldn't seem to see Darien often enough. Now all of a sudden you want to break it off with him? Why?"

"Look Luna," Serena said looking the cat in the eyes, "I am only going to tell you this once, so listen good: I don't want to be with Darien anymore. I don't want to live my life based on the past. I want to live and be free of all of this!"

"Serena? What do you mean by 'all of this'?"

"Luna...I don't want to be Sailor Moon anymore."

"Serena," Luna began quite shocked, "We have been through this dozen's of times. You can't not be Sailor Moon. It is your destiny and your duty..."

"OH, TO HELL WITH DESTINY AND DUTY," she cried, "I WANT TO BE NORMAL! And from now on I will. YOU GOT THAT?!"

Serena stormed out of the room leaving Luna at a loss for words.

____________________________________________________________

I need to find out why Serena would do this all of a sudden, Luna thought, I should speak with the rest of the girls, they may know why Serena is doing this to Darien.

"Hey Luna!" someone cried breaking Luna out of her reverie.

"ARTEMIS!" she cried nearly jumping out of her fur.

"Sorry Luna," he said sheepishly.

"Didn't your mother teach you to never sneak up on a person? And how many times have I told you ~not~ to come in Serena's room, unless she's here?"

"Well of course my mother taught me to never sneak up on people, but you're a cat! And you've told me to not come in Serena's room lots of times, but it's never stopped me before."

"Oh Artemis {sigh}...What ~do~ you want?"

"Well we really need to step-up the girls training. I've been getting strange signals and it's not the negaverse. I think it may be something even bigger."

"Oh Artemis what am I going to do?"

"Well Luna, if the girls are prepared then I'm sure that they can handle whatever this is."

"Not about ~that~...about Serena," replied Luna in a very concerned voice.

"What about Serena?" 

"She's broken-up with Darien."

"WHAT!?"

"Yes my reaction was exactly the same. Oh Artemis, I've no idea why she did it. She refuses to tell me why. She just said that she wants to make her own destiny. But what I can't understand is how one week she is madly in love with him and the next she just goes and dumps him."

"Hmmm," Artemis said seriously, "Maybe Serena is just having trouble coping with the fact that her entire life has been pre-determined. But she's known about it for too long for it to be barely bothering her now."

"I guess maybe the reality of it all just hit her. But after so long? It just doesn't seem right."

"Maybe we should talk to Darien, see if he knows anything about why she'd do this to him."

And with that said the two cats went in search of Darien.

To be continued... 

Read and Review Folks!


	2. Even More Odd Behavior

A Nightmare So Real part 2, by Rhiannon

Darien sat in his apartment, alone in the dark. He was staring at nothing, thinking only of the events that had transpired that day. His only love, his Serena had dumped him and for no apparent reason. If she were seeing someone else, someone who would make her happier than he could, he would have let her go. But there was no reason. He had tried as hard as he could to love her and make her happy, but she no longer wanted anything to do with him. 

*KNOCK, KNOCK* 

What in the world? Darien thought as he went to answer the door.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"It's Luna and Artemis. May we come in?"

Now what on earth can these two want, Darien thought as he let them in.

"Darien we really must talk with you about Serena," Luna said, getting straight to the point.

"Why do we need to talk about it Luna?" he asked, feeling downcast and low.

"Well, Darien; Artemis and I were wondering if you knew why she seems to have changed so suddenly. I mean, last week she was happy with the way that her life was. Then this week she doesn't want anything the same. She no longer wants to be Sailor Moon, and worst of all she doesn't want ~you~!"

"Wait a minute Luna you didn't tell me that she didn't want to be Sailor Moon anymore," Artemis began, but when he took one look at Luna's expression he knew he'd better can it.

"Look Luna, I don't know any more than you and Artemis do...I mean yesterday we were so happy together. We went out had ice cream and saw a movie. ~WE~ seemed fine yesterday. As for her not wanting to be Sailor Moon...I just don't know what happened to her," Darien finished feeling worse because Luna and Artemis were there to see him in this state of unhappiness and dejection. 

"Darien, I'm sorry that we bothered you, we were just hoping that you could shed some light on her changed personality. We'll leave now," Artemis said nudging Luna to the door.

So Darien went back to sitting in his lonely and dark apartment. The light in his life was gone now, and he wanted nothing more than to have it back. 

He walked to his closet and pulled out his photo albums. For the most part the pictures were in boxes, but there were some that Serena had decided to put into albums. 

-Flash Back-

"Darien, you have so many pictures here!" she squealed.

"Yeah, they're of trips I've taken and places we've been together."

"Really?"

"Yep, most of them are of you or us."

"Oh Darien!" she cried as she got up from where she sat to hug him fiercely.

"Hey meatball head, what's all this about?"

"Do I need an excuse to hug you?" she said with her head buried in his chest.

"No," he smiled.

"Well I'm hugging you because you have so many pictures of us together and I think it's so sweet that you do. Now to show how much it means to me that you have so many pictures of us I'm gonna put them all into a photo album!" she cried excitedly.

"Serena you don't have to..."

"I know I don't, but I want to so that someday when we're old and we've been married for 50 years we can look at these pictures and always remember."

-End FB-

"Always remember," he said aloud, "I'll always remember Serena, the question is will you? Or will you forget everything that meant so much to both of us? Will you forget that I love you with my whole entire heart?"

______________________________________________________________

"Luna you didn't tell me that she refused to be Sailor Moon," Artemis said a little hurt.

"I didn't tell you because she's said it so many times that it's just become an idle threat."

"But Luna, she broke up with Darien, and because she broke up with him she could be serious about not being Sailor Moon."

"Artemis," Luna said looking away, "I just don't know what's happening to her anymore. I mean this goes deeper than just teenage angst. I wish I could get to the bottom of this, but she won't talk to me about it. I know she won't. She's never really confided in me, but we talk about things, I just know that she won't seek my advice in this situation."

"Maybe she won't seek you Luna, but she may seek one of the other girls," Artemis reassured.

"Maybe Artemis, Maybe."

"Luna this isn't your fault. Whatever Serena is doing, she's doing it because she wants to."

"I know Artemis, I know."

______________________________________________________________

Well Serena, Serena thought to herself as she strolled about the mall, You've finally dumped that excess baggage, now what are you going to do?

"Shop 'till I drop!" she answered herself aloud.

So hyperactive Serena bounded through the mall buying whatever she wanted. Normally she'd buy childish things, toys, stuffed animals, and little knick-knacks for Darien. But today she walked around like a new woman. Buying things like a high heeled shoes, new clothing mostly in black, lots of makeup- stuff that she never wore-, even a ~diet~ soda. In short Serena was being quite the opposite of her normal self.

Now, to find something for my Muffin, she thought, Wait! What am I saying? I broke up with that jerk, why am I thinking of buying him something? Unless I still love him, but that's impossible, not after the way he's treated me!

"Hey Serena," a voice called breaking her from her thoughts.

"Hi Raye, watcha doin' here?"

"What's it look like dummy? I'm shopping!" Raye said enthusiastically, "Looks like you did quite a lot of shopping today too huh? Find anything good?"

"I sure did!" Serena exclaimed, "But I'm kinda tired of shopping right now, what do you say we go to your place and look at all our purchases there?"

"Sure Serena, just let me grab a soda."

"Well you could have the rest of mine, Raye, there's still half of it left."

"No Serena I'm not gonna drink any of that sugar rush soda of yours."

"It's not sugar rush soda ~Raye~ it happens to be ~diet~, thank you very much!"

"~You~ drinking a diet soda? Well glad to see that your finally getting over your obsession with sweets," Raye said not suppressing the tone of surprise in her voice. 

"Yes diet, now lets get outta here!"

With that the two of them went off to Raye's. Serena feeling on top of the world, and Raye completely bewildered as to what had happened to the quirky Serena she knew. Raye knew something was up, there was something different about Serena but it was probably nothing. Right?

To be Continued...

______________________________________________________________

EMAIL me for heaven's sake!!: rhiannon_1998@yahoo.com or review the story!!


	3. Injuries and Heartache

A Nightmare SO Real- Part 3

Rating: PG-13 for language and some content

Authors notes at bottom

"SO Serena, are you going to show me what you got or not?" Raye implored.

"Geez Raye, give me a chance to sit down," Serena replied.

"All right sit, do you want something to drink?"

"Nah that's ok. So lets see what we got!"

Raye decided to show Serena what she had purchased first.

"Now, I got this really great perfume," Raye began, "And so much other stuff..."

Raye went on, showing Serena a new red summer dress with a floral print, sandals, a new set of pajamas, and a white sweater.

"Wow Raye, you got some really great stuff," Serena said.

"Thanks."

"OK MY TURN," Serena squealed.

Serena opened her shopping bags and began to pull out all of her new clothes and junk. First she showed Raye the makeup, then a pair of black combat boots and a pair of black mary-janes. She then pulled out a pale blue, spaghetti strap dress that went all the way to the floor and some lingerie in the same color. Lastly she pulled out a black leather jacket.

"Wow Serena you sure went crazy shopping today. I can't believe some of the stuff you got."

"What can't you believe that I got?" Serena asked.

"Well, you bought a leather jacket and combat boots. I mean, I never thought that I'd see you in any of that stuff, and you bought makeup. Not to mention the lingerie"

"Yeah I just thought I needed a change in styles. Besides the lingerie went perfect with the dress, so I just had to get it."

"Serena, come on. I know you didn't just buy that lingerie for a dress," Raye said slyly.

"What on earth do you mean Raye?" Serena asked bewildered.

"Oh Serena, you don't just buy lingerie like that to wear under a dress. You and Darien have something special planed don't you?" Raye said grinning. Serena was too shocked to say anything, so Raye went on, "I think it's nice that you want to wear that for him. It'll just make the ~moment~ so perfect."

"Raye?...WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Serena shouted.

"Well you were going to wear that for him weren't you?" replied Raye, shocked by Serena's outburst.

"What? Do you think that I bought that because I'm going to sleep with Darien?! Raye I wouldn't sleep with him unless we were married."

"I'm sorry Serena, I shouldn't have said that," Raye apologized.

"How could you think that about me? Besides I broke up with him. And even if I did have the opportunity to sleep with him I wouldn't. Now ~if~ you will excuse me, I have to go," Serena said as she walked out of the room.

Raye was too shocked to say anything. Not because Serena said that she wouldn't sleep with Darien until they were married, but because she had broken up with him. Raye was still reeling from this when Luna walked in. 

"Raye? Have you spoken with Serena?"

"Huh? Luna? Serena?...What?" Raye replied confused.

"Have you seen Serena?" Luna asked.

"Yeah she just left."

"What did she tell you?" Luna asked hopeful that Raye could shed some light as to why Serena was acting so strange.

"Oh Luna it's a long story," Raye said putting her head in her hands, "We met at the mall and decided to come over here."

"What did you talk about, if I may ask?"

"Well we looked at the different things that we bought. I commented on how some of the stuff she got was not what she'd normally buy and she got mad and left."

"She got upset because you remarked on some of the stuff she bought?" Luna was bewildered.

"Well...it's because of the comment that I made about a certain thing that she bought..."

"What did she buy Raye?"

"{SIGH}SheBoughtSomeLingerieAndIThoughtThatSheBoughtItTo WearForDarienAndSheGotMadAndLeft," Raye rushed.

"She got mad because you thought that she bought it to wear for Darien?"

Raye nodded.

"Did she tell you anything else Raye?"

"Well as she walked out she told me that she had broken up with Darien. Luna she's changed. It's like I don't know her anymore," Raye said quite disheartened. 

"I don't think that she knows herself anymore. She doesn't want Darien, and now she's threatened not to be Sailor Moon anymore. I don't know what to do with her. This isn't my Serena anymore." Luna said.

"Luna, do you think that we should tell the others about this?" Raye asked quite concerned.

"Raye, normally I wouldn't want to pry into Serena's life, but in this case I think we must."

_______________________________________________________________

*BEEP BEEP* 

"Hello?" Mina answered

"What's up?" it was Lita who spoke.

"Yes?" Amy spoke.

"Mina, Lita, Amy, I need you all to meet at the temple," Luna said, "And don't any of you tell Serena."

"Well what's wrong Luna?" asked Amy.

"I'll explain it to you when you get here. Luna over and out."

_______________________________________________________________

At the Temple...

"Girls, I've asked you all here to discuss something very ~serious~," Luna began, "I don't know if you've noticed at all, but Serena has been acting very strange lately. She has refused to be Sailor Moon, and has decided that she no longer wants to be with Darien."

"Wow really?" Mina asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and it seems that this has been brought on very suddenly. Just last week she was bonkers over Darien, and she seemed to be happy as Sailor Moon. Now all she wants to do is forget all of her duties and Darien and live her life without all of the inconveniences that come with being a sailor scout," Luna explained.

"This does seem very odd," Amy said, "But perhaps she has a valid reason for not wanting to do any of this anymore. Maybe she thinks that she is no longer worthy of being Sailor Moon."

"But Amy, she's Sailor Moon no matter what. Nobody can take that away from her," Lita stated.

"Well I think that we should get to the bottom of this," said Mina.

"I agree, we need to find out why she's doing this. If we don't this could put us all into danger," Raye said. 

"But I don't think that we should go prying into her business. If she wants to tell us she will," Amy stated.

"Normally I would agree Amy, but this time I think that we need find the source of the problem. That means that we have to confront Serena about her behavior," Luna said, then...

"Well. I came back just to apologize to Raye for being so rude to her and what do I find? All of my so-called friends planning to look into something that doesn't even concern them," Serena said.

"Serena!" they all gasped.

"Well then, I take it you weren't expecting me to show up huh?" 

"SCOUTS!" Artemis cried running into the temple, "There's big trouble down at the mall. A nega trash monster is attacking. We've got to hurry."

"We'll continue this latter right now we've got to go," Luna said urgently.

"Humph, speak for yourself. I'm not going anywhere." Serena stated flatly.

"Serena this is no time to be bitter. We've got to go and do what we always done, protect the innocent," Raye said not losing sight of the objective.

"Well I'm not going," she replied.

"Serena ~WE~ are a team, and there is no ~I~ in team. Now we've got to go and do our duty," Mina said dragging Serena with her to the mall.

_______________________________________________________________

"VENUS STAR POWER!"

"Mercury STAR POWER!"

"MARS STAR POWER!"

"JUPITER STAR POWER!"

"moon crystal power."

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH THE MONSTER IS IN THE JEWLRY STORE!!!!" a woman screamed.

"Come on everyone," Mars said.

"All Right You Creep! Stop What You Are Doing!" Venus demanded.

"And who's gonna stop me?" asked a monster with brown scaly skin and large claws.

"The Sailor Scouts!" they cried in unison, all except Sailor Moon.

"HAH! You petty girls won't be able to stop me! I'll drain this whole place of energy!" 

"Oh No You WON'T! VENUS CRESENT BEAM SMASH!"

"HAH!" the monster laughed, "That didn't even hurt."

"What! My beam it didn't do anything to him!" cried a bewildered Venus.

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

"Hah missed," the monster shouted dodging Raye's attack, "Now lets see if you and handle this," the monster said blasting the girls with dark energy that sent them all flying in every direction.

"You creep! I am Sailor Moon and I don't like to get pushed around!"

"So what're you gonna do about it little missy?" asked the monster.

"I'm pissed off you bastard and you just pushed it!! MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!!!!"

"AAARRRGGGGHHHHH" the monster cried out as it turned into a pile of dust.

The other girls just looked at Sailor Moon not knowing what to say or do. They had never seen Serena kill a monster without so much as a second thought before in their entire lives as scouts.

"Nice job Sailor Moon," Jupiter said breaking the silence.

"I don't see why I need any of you to help me fight. It's obvious that I can do this by myself," Sailor Moon said.

"But Sailor Moon we're a team," replied Mercury genuinely hurt by Serena's comments. 

"I know. But I don't think that I need any of you anymore. From now on I'm a solo act," stated Sailor Moon.

"But Serena...you can't mean that," Mars said.

"I do mean it. As far as I'm concerned this sailor business has been a load of crap from the beginning. I'm leaving the Sailor Scouts. You stupid chumps can go on without me. From now on all the glory belongs to me, like it should always have been. As for you Luna, I don't want you in my home anymore," Serena said as she de-transformed and walked away from a stunned group of girls and a dazed cat.

As she walked away the girls were too shocked to say or do anything. Eventually they too de-transformed. They then decided that they needed to go to Raye's and have a talk about what was going on.

_______________________________________________________________ 

"Raye do you think that it could be anything that we did to push her away?" asked Lita.

"I honestly don't know, I mean last week she was fine and dandy. Now she's just {sigh} I just don't know anymore," she replied.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the negaverse," said levelheaded Amy.

"Yeah! That has to be it!" Lita exclaimed.

"No, if it's the negaverse, then why haven't I picked up on any bad vibes?" Raye questioned to no one in particular.

"It could be that the vibes aren't strong enough for you to feel," said Mina trying to give Raye solace.

In response Raye shook her head and said, "That can't be. I feel even the smallest changes regarding the negaverse. This time I don't feel anything. This change comes from Serena herself. I think that she's doing this of her own free will."

"Well she may be doing this of her own free will, but at least the rest of you still have a roof over your heads," Luna said feeling hurt because of Serena's actions.

"Don't worry Luna, you can stay with me until Serena comes to her senses," Lita said.

"And until she does I'm gonna do a computer scan to check for any anomalies in the atmosphere that could be attributed to the negaverse," offered Amy.

"Anything we can do to help?" the others chimed at the same time.

So the sailor scouts and Luna set about to attempt to find the cause of their leaders defection. 

_______________________________________________________________

What am I doing? Serena thought to herself as she walked around the park, I just left my position as leader of the sailor scouts. This is something that I was destined for. But then there's ~that~ word again, destiny. Well I wanted to change my destiny, so I guess this is the way to do it.

She was called back into reality by a scream...

"AAAHHH, GET AWAY!!!" someone screamed.

"{SIGH} Here we go again," Serena said aloud...

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER"

"You can't resist the power of the negaverse," a huge red monster that looked like a dragon and a Pegasus combined said.

"HELP!" the man screamed.

"Hey You Creep. Why don't you stop picking on innocent people? It would be a lot more fun to deal with someone who can fight back."

"And who might you be little woman?" asked the monster.

"I am Sailor Moon!"

Just then a rose zipped in front of the monster.

"What the hell was that?" it asked.

"Thought you could use some help with this Sailor Moon," said Tuxedo Mask as he flew around the sky.

"I don't need your help, why can't you just leave me alone?? Can't any of you get it in your heads that I don't want to be with any..."

"SAILOR MOON LOOK OUT" Tuxedo Mask cried.

Then it happened. Serena realized it right before it hit her. The monster had not come out alone that night. It came with two other companions. As the dragon like one taunted her, the other two came out of the shadows. They came from where neither Serena nor Darien could see. They hit her at the same time and with such force that she almost passed out.

"SAILOR MOON!" cried Darien.

"SERENA!!!" cried the scouts who had just arrived.

Serena could feel the blood flowing from various wounds in her body. She could barely see anything because her vision was clouded. She tried to move a hand and was met with pain that went shooting through her like fire. One of the other two monsters was about to hit her again when a red rose struck him.

"AAHH, My EYE!" it screamed.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!!!" said Tuxedo Mask unleashing a barrage of roses at the monsters. The two accomplices to the dragon like monster disappeared as soon as the barrage began. The dragon monster merely laughed.

"HAHAHAHAHAH!!! You think that those pitiful roses are going to have any affect on me?" the monster ridiculed as he shot blue beams at Tuxedo Mask. Then before the monster could reassess the situation...

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

"JUPITER THINDER CRASH!"

"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"

"VENUS CRESENT BEAM SMASH!"

"RROOAAARR" the monster yelled as it fell to the ground dead.

"Serena!" Tuxedo Mask called as he rushed to her side.

"She's been hit pretty bad. Her pulse is very weak, heart beat is slow and irregular. She's lost so much blood. We need to get her to a hospital!" Amy stated with panic in her usually calm voice.

"Ok we've got to move," Raye began but was cut off.

"No," Serena whispered weakly, "It's too late. Please forgive me for all that I've done to you. I tried to deny me destiny, and I abandoned all that was important to me."

"SShhh, Serena don't speak. Save your strength," Darien hushed her.

"Serena just calm down don't move," said a grief stricken Luna.

"Luna..." Serena said her eyes watering, "Forgive me...Darien I love you so much, I denied our love..."

"Serena what are you talking about? WE have our lives to live. You are going to be the Queen of Crystal Tokyo, and we are going to be your loyal guardians," said Raye emotion choking her as she spoke

"Raye...you're in charge now. Take care of everyone for me especially my love, my ~Darien~," Serena said as she turned her head to gaze at him.

"Don't talk like this Serena you have to be strong, we still have so much left to do," Darien said trying to keep her from giving up, but it was too late.

"~YOU~ have so much left to do Darien. Remember me {GROAN} remember the way I was before all of this..." her voice trailed off.

"Serena? Serena!?" Darien said as he shook her body frantically.

Amy quickly checked her pulse and breathing, and found that she had only passed out.

"It's ok she's just unconscious. We need to get her to a hospital NOW!"

Darien nodded and picked up Serena's small body in his arms and began to take her as quickly as her could to the hospital.

When they reached the hospital, the doctors came out and took Serena from Darien's arms. The doctors took her to a room and the others were asked to wait out in the lounge.

After about three hours one of the doctors came back out. He looked tired, drained from trying to save Serena. He stepped out into the lounge and asked everyone to have a seat...About five minutes later he left the group.

The girls began to cry uncontrollably because the doctor had just told them that there was nothing that they could do for her. It was just a matter of time before her small body gave out completely. She was barely holding on to life.

"She's gonna make it," Darien said after the girls had finished crying.

"But Darien the doctor," Mina said as Darien cut her off.

"SHE'S GONNA MAKE IT!!!" he screamed standing up tears filling his eyes, his voice cracking with emotion. The girls were too shocked by his outburst to speak, so Luna did.

"Darien, she may not," her voice sounded worn as she tried to look at the reality of the situation.

"I know Luna...Just let me believe it ok?" he said sitting down and putting his head in his hands, "This has to be some sort of nightmare Luna, it has to be."

"But it's not. Girls, Darien, I think that we need to face the possibility that we may lose Serena. If not tonight, then Soon," Luna said as her composure left giving way to tears.

TO BE CONCLUDED...

Hehe…don't you just love a cliffhanger? Review it!!


	4. And the Nightmare Rides On

A Nightmare So Real part 4

Rating: Pg-13 some stuff gets a little intense (at least I think so)

Author: Rhiannon ^_^ 

Darien had been at the hospital day and night for the past three weeks. Despite everyone's urgings, he refused to leave Serena alone for more than a few minutes. He hadn't slept more than a few hours each night, he had dark circles under his eyes, in short he was a mess. As for Serena, she had been in and out of consciousness. But with each passing day she woke up less and less. Although her vital signs remained relatively stable, the girls were beginning to lose hope of ever seeing the old Serena again. Even her parents and Sammy had stopped spending the night, for they had become unable to deal with the hopelessness of the situation. But they were also concerned for Darien and often asked him when the last time he slept was, or if he had even eaten. Although Darien didn't realize it, Serena's family had come to accept him as a son and they did indeed care very much for him. The girls took turns staying with Darien and bringing him food and clean clothes, none of them could understand what he was going through. So they just left him alone and let him be alone with her. Luna, on the other hand, often snuck into the room chastising him for staying in such a state of disarray.

"Luna, I don't care what you say, I'm not gonna leave her alone." he always said with a note of finality in his voice, but then:

"Darien this isn't healthy. Do you want Serena to wake up and see you like this? What would she think? She'd feel even worse for all that she's put you through. You need to go home, Darien. We'll call you if there's any changes."

"{SIGH} You don't understand. What if I leave and she wakes up? Or what if she dies when I'm gone? Luna I can't go..."

"{MOAN}"

"Serena?" both Darien and Luna queried gently.

"Darien," came a soft whisper from Serena's bed.

"Yes? I'm here," he whispered back rushing to the side of her bed. Luna took this opportunity to leave the room.

"Darien, how long have I been here?" she asked weakly.

"About three weeks now meatball head," he smiled.

Serena opened her eyes slightly. Then they shot open, "Darien, what on earth has happened to you?!"

"Nothing, I just haven't been home for a while."

"Because of me?" her eyes filled with tears, then hardened with resolve, "You are going to march yourself home right now and get some rest and get cleaned up. Do you hear me Darien Chiba?"

"I hear ya. But I'm not going anywhere," he replied softly.

"Yes you are," she said as she squeezed her eyes shut in pain.

"Serena? What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"{Sigh} Pain in my back. Darien, go home and rest. Please?" she said turning her eyes toward him. Those big blue eyes that he could never say no to.

"All right Serena I will. But as soon as I'm feeling ok I'm coming back."

"Ok," she said smiling at him.

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About two hours later Raye and Amy stopped at the hospital to check on Serena and Darien. When they opened the door to Serena's room, they were shocked to find that Darien was not with her. They saw Luna on the bed sleeping with Serena. Amy gently woke the sleeping cat.

"Luna wake up," she whispered.

"{meow}" Luna purred softly as she started to awaken, "Amy, Raye so nice to see you."

"It's good to see you too Luna. Where is Darien?" Amy asked.

"Serena woke up long enough to send him home to rest. I was so glad that she finally did. I don't know how much longer he would have lasted before he was put in the hospital with her for exhaustion."

"What did Serena say when she woke up?" asked Raye, "Did she give any reason for the way she'd been behaving?"  


"{SIGH} Raye she didn't say, I didn't even bother to ask. I left the room as soon as she called for Darien, I thought that they should have some time alone together. Before I even had a chance to speak with her Darien was gone and she was in a deep sleep."

"I just wish that we could get to the bottom of why she was acting so..." Raye started and was cut off.

"Excuse me ladies," a nurse said, "It's time for her medication, so I'll have to ask you to leave. OH! And before I forget the doctor wants to talk to as many of her friends as possible. She says that maybe you could answer some questions that her family can't."

"Well, what did she want to know exactly?" queried Amy.

"Oh I don't know. But it must be important, she rarely speaks with anyone other than family about her patients. You know confidentiality policy and all."

"Ok thank you Nurse," said Raye as she pulled Amy by the arm and hurried off to find the rest of the scouts and Darien to tell them of this turn of events. Luna had thought it best to stay hidden in the room. The last thing she needed was to be caught in a hospital room where no pets were allowed.

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Dr. Haden sat in her office reviewing the charts of one Tsukino, Serena. The case was very interesting. The girl came in with severe abdominal, back, leg, and head injuries. But what interested Dr. Haden most was that the trauma to the head seemed to have been incurred long before Serena was brought to the hospital. Dr. Haden had asked Serena's parents about this, but they knew nothing at all about why Serena would have head injuries. They didn't even know what Serena was doing in the park prior to being attacked. So that left just a few people, namely Serena's friends who might know what actually happened to the girl.

Hmm, Dr. Haden thought to herself, This girl has sever head trauma and it looks like its been there for a while. Yet nobody knows how she got it. It doesn't seem that she could be the victim of abuse. I really need to speak with her friends.

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"Amy why do you think that Serena's doctor would want to speak to us?" Raye asked as they walked to the Temple.

"I don't know, but we need to talk to everyone about this...You did make sure to call everyone right?"

"Yeah, I sure did. I even told Artemis to go back to the hospital to fill Luna in."

"Good," said Amy, "Raye do you think that the doctor wants to see us because Serena is dying?"

"I don't know Amy, I sure hope that she wants to tell us some good news."

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"The reason we asked all of you to come here is that Serena's doctor wants to see us all." Said Raye to the group of people gathered at the temple.

"Well, what does she want?" queried Mina.

"To be honest, we don't know," replied Amy, "But she must have good reason for wanting to see us. Raye and I have decided it would be best if we all went in to see the doctor together. That way we'll all know exactly what is going on."

"Do you think it's bad that the doctor wants to see us instead of her family?" Darien asked quietly.

"No, I'm sure it's nothing Darien. We shouldn't worry too much until we've heard what the doctor has to say," Raye said trying her best to comfort Darien.

"Well what's the deal? Do we call the doctor to set up an appointment, or do we just go on in to her office and begin asking questions?" Lita wanted to know.

"I've taken the liberty of setting up an appointment with the doctor this afternoon," said Amy, "I though it would be best instead of just bursting on in."

"Good job Amy," Mina complimented.

"Well then ladies, should we be on our way?" asked Darien.

"Sure," the girls replied in unison.

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Dr. Haden was once again in her office going over Serena's charts in preparation for the meeting with the girl's friends. As Dr. Haden looked over the charts there was a soft knock at her door.

"Come in," she called. The door was opened to reveal a young girl with sort blue hair.

"Dr. Haden?" the girl asked uncertainly.

"Yes? How may I help you?" the doctor said looking up from her charts.

"I'm one of Serena's friends. You said that you needed to discuss something with us?"

"Oh yes! Please won't you come in? You didn't come alone did you?" Dr. Haden asked.

"Oh no I didn't. All of Serena's closest friends and boyfriend are here."

"Well, why don't you all come in?"

"Very well," the girl said as she turned away from the doctor and called to her friends.

Dr. Haden watched as the five people settled into her office. They were an interesting group. A blonde, a brunette, a raven-haired beauty, a blue-haired girl, and a dark haired young man. 

"Well then, My name is Doctor Jessica Haden,"

"I'm Raye," said the raven-haired one.

"I'm Mina," said the blonde.

"I'm Lita," the brunette, who looked like a tom-boy said.

"I'm Amy," said the blue-haired girl quietly.

"And I'm Darien," said the devilishly handsome young man.

"It is a pleasure to meet everyone of you. I just wish it were under better circumstances," began Dr. Haden, "Now I wanted you all here because I thought that perhaps you could answer some questions for me that Serena's family can't. Is this all right with everyone?"

All Nodded.

"Good, now I was hoping that one of you could tell me what Serena was doing in the park when she was attacked."

"To be honest, we don't exactly know why she was in the park," Mina lied. They all knew that Serena was in the park trying to protect an innocent person, but to tell Dr. Haden that would destroy everything that they worked for.

"Well," Dr. Haden continued, "Do any of you know if she received any severe head trauma before this incident in the park?"

"No, why do you ask?" responded Raye a bit confused. She had seen Serena hit her head dozens of times, but nothing that could be construed as serious...

"Well, we did a CT scan of her head, and found some old fracture lines that had completely healed, as well as some that were in the process of healing. I couldn't find any mention of head trauma in her medical chart, so I thought that maybe you would know if she fell or hit her head and didn't come in to have it checked out."

"We can't be sure," Lita said, "Serena is such a big klutz, that it is entirely possible that she hit her head and fractured it and didn't think anything of it. I mean she could have hit her head and figured it was nothing. Right?"

"Doctor?" Darien spoke from a corner, "Can you tell us how bad it actually is?"

"{SIGH} This head trauma seems to have been gradual. Because of this trauma some very vital veins in her brain have been compromised. What I mean is that blood supply to her brain is not 100%. There is nothing that I can do to stop it anymore. If she would have come in sooner before she was attacked then maybe I could have done something about it. I'm not gonna lie to you, slowly but surely those veins will completely stop carrying blood to her brain, and because of the other injuries she's received, I'm afraid it's only a matter of time." 

Darien nodded his head and looked down then said, "Could this thing with her head cause behavior not normal to her?"

"Yes indeed it could. Why do you ask?"

"Well prior to being attacked she had broken up with me for no apparent reason and she wanted to disassociate herself from her friends."

"And you were all probably trying to guess at her motives right?" Dr. Haden asked, "Well you now seem to have the answer. Serena was not completely herself. Don't be upset with her for what she did. It's actually not her fault."

"I think we should be going now, Dr. Haden," said Raye somberly, "Thank you for speaking with us, and telling us the truth about what's going on. Now if you'll excuse us, I think we need to be with Serena now."

"I understand," Dr. Haden said, "Thank you for coming, and take care of yourselves."

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It all made so much sense to everyone now. The previous battles that Serena had been in had caused enough damage to blood vessels in her brain to make her thinking not absolutely clear. That was why there were so many changes in Serena's behavior in such a short period of time. It made sense, but it was still unacceptable that Serena would eventually die. She had started to wake up less and less, so obviously what the doctor had said about trauma to her head had some validity. The doctors words, 'It's only a matter of time' played over and over again in each of their minds. What would life be like with out Serena?

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*A Dream*

"Oh Darien! Do you really mean it?" squealed Serena.

"Of course I mean it, my love. And I'll even ask again. Serena will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I will, again and again," she said throwing her arms around him and kissing him passionately.

Darien broke their kiss and said, "Oh Serena, I don't think that I could live without you. Thank You!"

"For what muffin?"

"For wanting to be mine for always," he smiled as he held her closer and kissed her sweet lips savoring the moment that she agreed to be his wife forever.

*End Dream*

"Darien?" she whispered. She could hardly move any of her body. Even trying to made her feel woozy, like she would pass out again and not be able to wake up. She noticed that it was hard to focus her eyes and that even breathing had become difficult.

"I'm right here Serena," he said taking her hand.

"I was having the most wonderful dream. You had just asked me to marry you. Of course I said yes and we kissed so passionately. Oh Darien, it was such a wonderful dream, even if it doesn't happen for a long time, I know that eventually it will."

"Of course it will Serena," he said as tears rolled down his face, "Now, you just go on back to sleep and save your strength. OK?"

"{COUGH COUGH}"

"Are you ok Serena?!"

"Yeah. I just had trouble catching my breath there for a minute."

"Well you just sleep," he said. He was very concerned because her voice was barely above a whisper and her breaths came in gasps.

"Darien?"

"I thought I told you to sleep," he mock-chastised.

"I know, I was just wondering if you would kiss me goodnight."

"Gladly," he leaned over her on the bed, and pressed his lips to hers. Although her lips were slightly cold, it was a warm and tender kiss. She weakly put her arms around his neck. They were close like this for quite some time...Then it happened. She dropped her arms from his neck and the pressure from her lips weakened. Darien felt a sigh escape her lips and pulled back to look at her. At first he thought that she had fallen asleep, exhausted from trying to speak with him. But then, to his horror, he noticed that she wasn't breathing.

"Serena?" he asked as he shook her shoulders trying to rouse her, "Oh my God," he said as the machines next to her started to beeping uncontrollably. The nurses began rushing in and out of the room. 

The next few minutes passed by like a blur to Darien. He was shoved out of the way and he watched as the nurses and doctors scurried about trying to save Serena. Bits and pieces of their conversations made it into his head. Stuff about a code blue, and getting the on call doctor. They rattled off medical terms that meant absolutely nothing to him. The only thing he could focus on was Serena lying there as all these strangers worked to save her.

Darien stood in a daze as they put a tube down her throat to get her breathing again. Even more traumatic for him was when they shocked her body, trying to get her heart started again. Her body writhed under the electrical stimuli they were giving her, yet she did not respond the way they hoped she would. He watched as they injected her with needle after needle of medication. They tried to save her life. But in the end there was nothing they could do. They turned off the machines and began clearing the room out of the equipment they had used. They fixed her hair and her nightgown in an effort to make her look more presentable. They came over to him and offered their condolences. When it was over Darien just looked at her. She looked so at peace, like she would wake up at any second. He walked over to her and held her hand.

"Serena," he whispered softly as he stroked her hair. Her body was so cold now, and her hands didn't respond to his touch. He looked at her and his heart ached. He kissed her lips one last time and left the hospital.

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The girls found out an hour later. They rushed down to the hospital and found Serena in the room looking as though she was only sleeping. They each took turns holding her hands and saying their good-byes. Luna was in a corner of the room crying, as was Artemis. Serena's parents and brother stood in a corner of the room weeping together, trying to console one another. After a few minutes the girls just began to weep uncontrollably. They cried and cried, for their leader, princess, and friend was gone. After a long silence Mina asked:

"Where's Darien?"

"The young man who was here, right?" asked a nurse who had just come into the room. As the girls nodded she replied, "He stayed with her holding her hand and talking to her. Then he just left, I don't know where he went."

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He ran. He ran as hard and as long as he could. The tears were streaming down his face, his heart was broken, his whole reason for living, gone. When he could finally run no more, he found that he was in the park. It was very late at night, so no one was there to see him in such pain.

"Sereeeena," he sobbed, looking at the ground.

"Serena," he whispered her name as though his lover was there with him.

"Serena," he said a little louder.

"Serena," he sighed as he dropped his head to his hands.

He sat there with his head in his hands for quite some time. He thought about all the good times they had shared and about all the times she made him laugh, and the many times he had kissed her and she had kissed him.

Oh Serena, he thought, Why did you have to go? I need you to be here with me. We were going to be together for always. Now the one memory that'll stand out in my mind is that you died in my arms. You died kissing me. Does that mean I was the last person that you thought about? Serena I know it seems stupid to talk to you especially in my thougts, but where ever you are, I want you to know that my last thoughts will be of you.

"SERENA!!!!!!!!" he screamed out loud as though screaming would bring her back to life.

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"Darien?" someone said gently shaking his shoulders.

"Serena," he mumbled again thrashing about.

"Sshh It's ok Darien," the voice said to him gently.

"NO! Serena don't leave!" he sobbed.

"Darien!" the voice said while shaking him a bit harder than before.

"I need you, you can't go!" he said now, with tears running out of his closed eye lids.

"DARIEN, PLEASE..." that gentle little voice said shaking him once again.

"SERENA!!" he screamed again, and then woke up feeling a bit dazed. His body was covered in a cold sweat and he looked around only to discover that he was in his own apartment, in his bed with...

"Serena?" he said somewhat bewildered. He had some trouble focusing his gaze, but he knew her form so well that it could be no other in the bed with him. He smiled up at her, grateful that he had only had a nightmare. 

"Are you all right muffin? I've been trying to wake you up for the last few minutes. I think you were having a dream," she said with a look of concern on her face.

"It was no dream Serena, more like a nightmare," he said rubbing his face with his hands.

"Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes talking about it makes it seem less scary," she said sweetly.

"Oh Serena," he said taking her into his arms and kissing her over and over.

"Hey now mister," she giggled pushing away from him, "There'll be none of that...at least not until you tell me what happened."

"{SIGH} It was horrible Serena. I dreamt that first of all you had broken up with me. Then you didn't want to be Sailor Moon and you wanted nothing to do with the girls. But to top it all off you were attacked by some horrible monster and you...oh Serena you were dead," he said his voice choked with emotion.

"It's ok Darien," she said taking him in her arms, "I'm here with you and I'm not leaving. No matter what, I'm not leaving here without you."

"Serena, I Love You! I should tell you that more often. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you or if you were to leave me," he said as he began to sob softly.

"Oh Darien," Serena said holding him closer, "I would never leave you. That's why I married you, so that I would never ever have to leave you. Don't you worry about a thing. I'm here to stay, because I Love You with all of my heart"

"I Love You so much it hurts sometimes. But I like loving you. I wouldn't change anything about that," he said gently kissing her lips. 

With each and every kiss he gave her, and with each one she gave him, his dream seemed to vanish into the night. It was amazing what just holding her and kissing her could do for him. It made him feel complete. 

His one and only nightmare would be to lose Serena and never have her with him again. Never to be able to hold her close or make her laugh. To never be able to kiss her sweet lips or tell her how much he loved her. Even one day without his Serena would be and eternity in hell for Darien. 

As they broke their kissing, Darien held Serena in his arms and she rested her head on his chest. And so they went back to sleep. Darien feeling more complete knowing that Serena was there with him and that he had only had a nightmare. And as for Serena she went to sleep content to know that the man who held her would love her until his dying day. 

Wow, that nightmare was so real. I'm glad it wasn't Darien thought as he held Serena a little closer and fell asleep. 

The End!!!!!!!!!

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Authors Notes:

Well there you have it. It's done finally and I must say that I'm really happy with it. I hope you all enjoyed this because I worked really hard on it. 

So, because I worked so hard on it REVIEW IT!!!!


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